Requiem
by Shadowstar k'Anada
Summary: Usagi deals with the death of her family.


Disclaimer: You know, for anime, I think these things are silly. Everyone knows Naoko wrote this stuff. Everyone knows I didn't originate anyone here, except for the extras. And besides, ever heard of Doujinshi? Gimme a break!

Anyhow, I hope this is formatted correctly now.

"... and once you've squared the coefficient of e, you can graph the

square root of pie over 3 x cubed..." Usagi sighed. She didn't know WHAT

the teacher was talking about. Ami would probably have known, but Ami

wouldn't have been able to explain this to Usagi anyhow. "... Tsukino-san!"

"E- Hai, sensei?" said Usagi, standing up.

"What is the answer to the problem?"

"Uh... it's um... 3/5?" said Usagi. She didn't even have a guess at what

the answer was. She had just picked a number out of the air and said it,

hoping that she would be right. She knew, of course, that she had picked

incorrectly when the entire class burst out laughing. She hung her head in

silence as the teacher told her the real answer.

"Now, I was very disappointed with some of your test marks; some

of you may have to see me after classes are over. I can tell that some of

you have worked really hard, but an eighty percent is probably not what

your parents wanted. Anyone getting less than an eighty should come to

see me after class," said the teacher as she handed back tests. Some

students groaned, and Usagi noticed that they were the ones who usually

got at least 90%. She put on a bright smile as the teacher came to her desk

and delivered her sheet. She kept her smile, even though she felt like

crying after she got her paper.

Usagi had received a 10% on her test. After class, most of the

students left. The rest of the students in the classroom had bleak looks on

their faces; Usagi alone had a bright, vapid smile plastered to her face.

The teacher called their names one by one, until Usagi was the last

student in the class.

"Tsukino Usagi." Her words had finality in them. Usagi took a deep

breath and continued smiling. It almost hurt to keep her face in this happy

position when all she really wanted to do was cry.

"Yes, sensei?" said Usagi.

"You are really doing badly, Usagi. What do you want to do in the

future?"

"I- I don't know. I guess..." Usagi laughed self-consciously. She knew

what she was going to do. And it really wouldn't matter what her marks

were... but she still wished that she could get better marks.

"Maybe you should get a better idea of what you want to do, Usagi.

What you need to do is focus. Find something that you like and are good at.

You should talk to your parents. I would like to arrange an appointment

with them for next week at some point. Until then, I want this test paper

signed. Bring it back tomorrow with a signature from one of your parents

and-"

"Tsukino Usagi, please report to the principal's office," came a

scratchy sounding voice from the school's intercom system. The teacher

stood, and then Usagi bowed.

"I'll try to do better," said Usagi.

The teacher nodded.

"Hello?" said the secretary. "What's your name?"

"Tsukino Usagi," said Usagi nervously. She was wondering what the

principal wanted to see her for.

"Oh..." the secretary looked at her with pity in her eyes, and Usagi

felt a little fear at that. Was she being suspended or expelled for not

attending classes? She had an excuse, but she didn't think that the

principal would consider saving the world to be realistic. "Go right in,

dear." Usagi nodded.

She walked into the office. It was rather small for a principal, she

thought. It had fake wood panelling on cupboards and pictures of the best

students. Ami was on the bulletin board next to the door with a test paper

with 100% on it. Then she looked at the principal, who gazed at her with

hard black eyes. "I'm Usagi... Tsukino Usagi..." she said softly. His face

softened and he sat up.

"Sit down, Usagi-chan..." he said, motioning a dingy brown chair on

the other side of his desk. She did as she was told, but couldn't help but

sit at the edge of the fake leather seat. He took a deep breath and looked

at her in her eyes.

"Usagi, there's been some bad news," said the principal slowly,

taking his eyes away from her face as she tilted her head. "Someone broke

into your house today." Usagi leaned back into the chair. If this was all he

had called her in for, she would be fine. It wasn't anything to do with her

grades, and that was all she was really worried about. Until he said his

next words.

"Your family was in the house when it happened. The bunglers were

armed. Your family is dead. They didn't have a chance."

"What!?" asked Usagi, shocked. "What do you mean they didn't have a

chance? What do you mean 'they're dead'?"

"Usagi, we have someone who's going to drive you over to the police

station. She'll be picking you up in a few moments. She'll be driving a

taxicab. Go wait outside for her."

"Yes sir," said Usagi. She walked out of the school, but instead of

stopping and waiting for the taxicab, she continued going. "Mother...

father... Shingo... oh, Chibiusa would have been at home too..." She walked

in small steps and breathed shallowly. She walked into the middle of the

park in a daze and then sat by a huge tree and began pulling out the grass

around it as the mid-afternoon sun beat down on her.

It was evening by the time the fact fully sank into her. Her family

was dead. They were not alive. They wouldn't be coming out into the

streets wondering where she was. It was beginning to rain but it didn't

bother Usagi as the streets filled with water. Her clothing was a sodden

mess, and was becoming muddy because she was still on the ground by the

tree.

She stood and began to cry. Her tears mixed with the rain, tracing

thin lines of warmth down her cheeks. She began to walk, not really caring

where she was going, just walking as the rain pelted her from all

directions. She walked on the sidewalk, and cars splashed water and dirt

from the road onto her, but she didn't even register it and continued

walking without pause. She crossed the streets without paying attention

to the signs and the beeping of cars; she didn't notice them any more than

she noticed the condition of her clothes. The rain was cold where it struck

the fabric of her clothes and even colder where it fell on her skin, but she

barely felt the cold or the wet.

She didn't even notice that the man in front of her had stopped, so

she bumped into him. "You stupid girl! Why don't you watch where you're

going?" He complained. His business suit was dry from where he stood

under his umbrella. He pushed her and Usagi fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said to him as her tears fell faster.

"Uh, yeah, right well, just don't let it happen again," he said as he

walked away in a rush. Usagi remained where she had fallen, unable to

stop crying or to stand up as the rain poured down on her.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Usagi!" she heard her name being called, but she didn't have the

strength to answer it. "Usako! What are you doing here!? Why didn't you

show up for our date?" Mamoru stood over her angrily.

"I- I-" Usagi began. Then Mamoru looked at her.

"Usako?" He knelt down beside her and took her hand. "What's

wrong?" She stared at him and he brought his umbrella up over her head.

"Never mind, it's okay. How about I take you home, okay?"

"No, no! I don't want to go home! I don't want to go home! I don't want

to... don't wanna..." She began to breath heavily.

"Okay, we won't! How about we go to my place? Is my apartment

okay?" asked Mamoru cautiously. "How does that sound, Usagi?" She began

to calm down and nodded at Mamoru, then took his hand.

"Okay..." Mamoru held her hand and helped her up and then steadied

her as she began to sway.

"Maybe we should go to a hospital instead," he said lightly. Usagi

shook her head violently and clutched his arm. "Okay, we won't..." He held

her hand for a moment longer, and then had to make a frantic grab for her

as her legs gave out. He half-walked her, half-carried her to where his car

was parked, and then drove the two of them to his apartment.

He lay Usagi down onto his bed, removing some of her sodden

clothing and wrapping her up in a blanket instead. She was barely awake as

he picked up the telephone and began to dial the number of her house.

"Hello? Is this the house of the Tsukinos? Oh. I- What!? I see. M-hm. Yes,

Usagi's here with me. Uh huh." Mamoru said his address and then sat down

beside Usagi. "When did you find out, Usako?" His voice was soft and his

gentle hands stroked her face.

"Mamo-chan, your hands are so nice and soft. I love your hands..."

"Okay. That's nice, Usagi. When did you find out about your family?"

asked Mamoru.

"Dunno. Principal told me. Called me to the office. I thought I was

going to be expelled for not showing up for class. Because I was Sailor

Moon. Didn't know what to do... then he told me..." Usagi began to cry. "If I'd

been there, I could have done something..."

Mamoru looked at Usagi and then sat down on the bed with her. He

took her slight frame into his arms and held her head to his shoulder as

she cried. "It's not your fault, Usagi. You couldn't have done anything..." She

put her nose to his neck.

"I could have transformed into Sailor Moon and then I could have done

something and kept whoever it was from killing them. I thought I was

being good by getting to school early, but instead I should have been home

protecting them..."

"Usagi, you can't do everything. You can't be everywhere. And it

wasn't your fault. You only think that you could have done something. It's

not your fault." Mamoru felt her begin to shiver and got up to get a blanket,

but before he could do that, he felt Usagi's arms around him. They held him

tightly and he could not leave without him moving her. "Usako, I'm just

going to get you a blanket."

"No! No, you can't leave me. You can't go away. You can't... Please,

please don't leave me," Usagi begged.

Mamoru looked at her and then picked her up. "We'll go get some

things together, okay, Usa?" She sniffed and nodded, and began to shiver

again. He went through his small apartment to a closet with blankets in it

that he had bought when the apartment's heating had gone out. He let the

other blanket fall from her shoulders as he put her down, careful to keep

her from collapsing. The wet blanket was cold, and Mamoru was glad that

he had taken it off. Usagi stood shivering in her underwear as he worriedly

tugged another blanket from the closet and put it on her, wrapping it

gently around her shoulders. Then he picked Usagi up again.

His next stop was the bathroom. "Usagi, do you have to... uh..." she

shook her head and sniffed again. Then he undid her hair and got a towel in

which he wrapped it. "When was the last time you ate, Usagi?"

"I'm not hungry."

"I see," said Mamoru with a smile. "Well, I'll get us some food

anyhow." He brought her into the kitchen area and put her down on a seat.

"I'm going to stay here with you, don't worry," he said as he took her arms

from around his neck. "It's okay."

Usagi watched Mamoru intently as he got food from out of the

refrigerator and began to cook it. She pulled the blanket tighter around

herself and coughed. Mamoru looked at her with concern. "Are you all right,

Usako?"

"Yes," she said softly. She began to smell his cooking not too much

later, and felt her appetite returning. He took out two plates from a small

white cupboard, filled them with food, and put them on the table in front

of Usagi. She went closer to the food and felt the warmth of it on her face

and the smell of it in her nose. Mamoru took out some chopsticks and

walked to Usagi.

"Feel like eating now, do you?" Mamoru smiled. Usagi nodded and then

took her hands out to get the chopsticks that Mamoru offered her. She took

them in her hands and went to get some of the rice he had cooked, but they

fell out of her hands as soon as she tried to get it. Mamoru looked at her.

"I'll help you if you want, Usako."

Usagi nodded in gratitude and Mamoru helped her to eat. Usagi felt

rather silly. "I don't like being fed like a baby," she said after she had

eaten most of the plate with Mamoru's help. "Like a baby? Baby..." Usagi

began to cry again.

"Usagi, what's wrong...? What's wrong?" He shook his head and held

her again. "Come on, Usako, you can tell me what's wrong."

"Oh, Mamo-chan... Chibiusa-chan... she was home, wasn't she. Why did

she have to be at home? Why did she... why wasn't she at school or

something...?"

"Chibiusa..." Mamoru fought his own tears as he brought Usagi closer

to him. "Everything will be okay." Someone banged on the door. "Shhh, it'll

be all right." Mamoru put Usagi once more into his arms and went to the

door. He looked through the little peephole and unlocked the door when he

saw the badges on the other side. He opened the door and asked to the two

police officers to please come in.

"Is this Usagi?" asked one of the pair.

"Yes, it is," said Mamoru. He didn't pay much attention to the police,

worrying more about Usagi. He motioned the officers to sit, but they

declined. He sat with Usagi still on his lap. Usagi clung to him, his neck in

her arms. She didn't pay much attention to what Mamoru and the police

were saying until she heard the police asking Mamoru where she would

sleep if she were left with him. "I'll have her sleep in my bed and I'll sleep

on the couch."

"No!" she cried. "No, no, you can't leave me alone! Don't leave me

alone... you can't leave me alone... please, please, please, please, please...

you can't leave me alone."

Mamoru kissed her on the forehead. "Beloved, I can't sleep with you, I

can't stay up all night, and you certainly can't stay up all night either."

"I don't care..." Mamoru looked at her. "Bring the couch into your

room?" she asked hopefully. Mamoru looked at the two police officers

before nodding his assent. Usagi smiled and buried her head in Mamoru's

sweater.

"How many were in the house... I mean, was it just her parents...?"

asked Mamoru.

"3 of them. Her mother, her father and her brother. Was anyone else

there?" asked a police lady sharply.

"No," said Mamoru, shaking his head. "I just wanted to know..."

"We need her to identify the bodies. We'd like her to come in

tomorrow. The family's lawyer is settling the financial matters. Since it

doesn't look as though we'd be able to get her away from you with a

crowbar, we'll give you temporary custody if you want it. We'll tell the

lawyer to call you."

"Is there any chance of finding the killer?" asked Mamoru.

"It's not a very good chance. I'm sorry. We'll try, but... you have to

understand..."

"I do." He laughed shortly. Mamoru took something out of his pocket

and threw it into the kitchen angrily.

The police officers got up. They gave Mamoru a paper with an address

on it. "Don't ask her today," said one of them.

"I won't." Mamoru stood up and saw them out. "Alright now, Usa. Stop

holding me for a bit so that I can move the couch, okay?"

"You don't- I mean, you don't have to use a couch..." Mamoru picked up

Usagi and brought her into the bedroom. She shivered some more and then

kissed him squarely on the lips. Mamoru put her down on the bed and kissed

her forehead.

"Yes I do."

Usagi cried softly into Mamoru's pillow. Every time she closed her

eyes, Usagi could see her parents and her brother. She didn't know what to

do. Her face was starting to ache thanks to all of the tears, her hair was a

mess, and she knew that all the wishing in the world wasn't going to bring

her parents back. Not even the ginzuishou would be able to do that.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours of crying, Usagi opened her

eyes and looked at Mamoru. He looked peaceful and calm, and Usagi wished

that she could feel as calm as he did. She wished sometimes that she was

as strong as Mamoru. He was always strong and kind and handsome...

"Mamo-chan..." she whispered. He cracked his eyes open.

"Yes Usako?" He looked at the tears that still poured down her

cheeks and then sat down beside her on the bed. "You need rest..." he

whispered softly.

"I love you, Mamoru."

"I love you too." He took her hand and held it, understanding somehow

that she needed comfort, that she needed to know that she wasn't alone.

Usagi tried to sit up, but her efforts failed and she fell back down onto the

bed. "Try to sleep, Usako."

Usagi shook her head. "No, I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes,

Mamo-chan... I can't stop them from coming, they won't leave me alone...

they keep coming and telling me... telling me it's my fault with their

eyes... so cold, Mamo-chan... They're all so cold."

Mamoru sighed. "Usako... it's your parents right?"

"Hai, and Shingo too. They won't leave."

"Stop crying for a bit, okay? Your cheeks are all red. We'll go get a

drink for you, okay? Come on," he said, picking her up off of the bed. He

looked down at her, and then said, "Usagi, would you... like some sake?"

Usagi nodded. "Okay. But you're going to drink a lot of water first, and eat

something too, alright?" She nodded again.

They went into the kitchen, Mamoru still carrying the light girl in

his arms, and got a glass which Mamoru filled with water. He put Usagi

down on his counter top and helped her to drink. Later, after a few glasses

of water and a bit of rice, he looked at her and got the sake. He seemed to

be convincing himself of something as he poured it and then helped her to

get the liquid into her.

Then, after only one glass, he picked Usagi up again. Her heart was

beating fast, and she knew that she was drunk, but she didn't want to show

it to Mamoru. He didn't get drunk very easily, so if Usagi wanted to be like

Mamoru, she'd have to not get drunk very easily.

She giggled a little and Mamoru smiled at her and then put her in the

bed again. He gave her another kiss and said goodnight, and before Usagi

knew it she had fallen fast asleep, leaving Mamoru to pull the covers up

over her shoulders.

The next morning, Usagi woke and panicked. She looked to the couch,

but Mamoru was not there. She looked all around the room from the bed,

but she still couldn't spot him. She stood on her still shaky legs and

toddled off like a baby. Then she heard the shower running and ran to the

bathroom door. "Mamo-chan?" she called anxiously. Not hearing an

immediate answer, she threw the door open to find Mamoru, naked and

staring at her. Seeing that Mamoru was safe, her eyes crossed and she

collapsed.

When she came to, Mamoru was above her, holding a rose. "Mamo-

chan!" she cried and grabbed him around the neck. "You- you won't believe

the bad dream I had... Mama and papa and Shingo too, they were killed..."

Mamoru took her head and put it on his shoulder. "And then I got sick, and

you came and defended me from some mean man who was yelling at me,

and then you brought me home and the police came and you gave me sake...

and I was so scared! I didn't want you to leave me, because I thought you'd

vanish, just pop and disappear!"

"I'll never disappear, Usagi, but that... wasn't... a dream."

"Yes it was, Mamo-chan. Of course it was a dream, because then I

woke up with you holding the flower in your hand! It was a dream."

"Usagi..." he shook his head. "I'm sorry to have to let you know this

twice, but they're dead. We... have to... go and identify the bodies now."

"No, you were having the same dream as I was. That's all. They aren't

dead! They're at home, and we can call them, and they'll tell me to get

home right now because I forgot to call them last night to tell them where

I would be, and father will get mad at me for having you as a boyfriend,

and Shingo will tell me that I'm not good enough for a cool guy like you...

and... and..." She was breathing quickly now, and tightening her hold on

Mamoru's neck.

"Usako! I'm sorry! Please listen to me! Usako! They're dead. I-"

"No, they're not! They aren't dead!" cried Usagi frantically.

"Okay." Mamoru gave Usagi a hug and then let go of her. "As you say,

Usagi. I'm going to get a shower. I want you to stay here until I'm done,

okay? I want you to promise you won't go anywhere or do anything to hurt

yourself."

"P- Promise..." said Usagi. She looked at the intensity in Mamoru's

eyes and it frightened her a little. "I won't leave... and I won't do

anything... I promise..."

"Good." His eyes lit up as he smiled at her, relieving some of her

tension. "Now, just go and sit down on the couch, okay Usagi?"

"Alright, Mamo-chan." She sat on his worn couch and then curled in

on herself. "I'm still so tired..." She slowly brought her legs up onto the

green material and then put her head on the armrest. Later, Mamoru put a

blanket over her as she shivered uncontrollably in her sleep.

She woke later in the day to see Mamoru standing above her, looking

sadly at her face. "Usako, you're awake?" he asked softly.

"Yes. It's the middle of the day. Is school not in session today?"

Mamoru looked at her, pursed his lips, and then nodded at her.

"Right. You aren't supposed to go to school today. Usagi, we need to

go somewhere right now. To... identify some people."

"Identify people? Has something happened to someone?"

"Usagi, it would be better if I didn't try to explain, okay? We're just

going to talk a little on the way there, but not about anything serious, just

stuff that pops into our heads, okay?"

"A- all right, Mamoru." She looked at him and wondered why it

seemed as though he was walking on eggshells right now. I don't think I

know what's wrong, do I?

"Come on, Usako." He took her hands in his and led her down the hall.

He pressed a button for the elevator without taking his eyes off of her.

"Mamo-chan..." she said as the elevator door closed.

"Yes?"

"I want to go home before we go anywhere else, okay?"

He took a deep breath. "Usagi, we have to go to the- we've got to go

somewhere else first, but then we might be able to go to your house,

okay?"

"I just want to go home first... please, Mamo-chan?" He shook his

head. She looked down to the ground and suddenly felt his arms around her.

"Usagi, please do as I ask. Please don't make this hard. Everything's

going to be okay. You believe me, Usako? Everything's going to be alright."

"I- Of course I believe you, Mamo-chan."

"Good," he said as he stepped into the elevator which arrived with a

cheerful 'ping' noise. Usagi walked in after him and watched as the big

green doors closed. She liked the feeling of his arms around her, and when

she felt him pull away as the doors opened to let on some more people, she

went closer to him until he couldn't back away from her any more.

"I love you..." she whispered softly into his ear as she stood on the

tips of her pink shoes. He smiled at her, then took her hand into his. His

hand was warm and soft, and Usagi sighed as she leaned against him.

At ground floor, the two other occupants of the elevator left. Usagi

went further into Mamoru's embrace, putting his arms around her. Mamoru

laughed a little, but soon enough, it was a floor of the garage, and the door

opened with another happy little dinging noise and Mamoru brought Usagi

out into the parking lot.

They got into Mamoru's car, and Usagi noticed Mamoru wilt visibly.

He turned the key in the ignition and they drove out of the garage and into

the streets, and Usagi saw that Mamoru's smile was fading more and more

into a worried look. Usagi sighed and looked at the red plastic dashboard

for a while, then turned to looking at the people outside of the car.

Everyone was bustling about, there were street vendors and

musicians just beginning to come out onto the street while students began

running to school. Usagi smiled contentedly and then looked again at

Mamoru, whose face was still worried. It seemed very much at odds with

the people outside, who all seemed exuberantly joyful. She sighed again

and stared out at the cars in front of them on the road. Even the cars

seemed to be happy, grinning in chrome and silver, red and blue, green and

black... everything was so happy, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Usagi

just couldn't imagine what Mamoru was worrying about.

"It's such a lovely day, isn't it, Mamo-chan? Maybe after we've done

this, we can go have a picnic out in some park... that would be nice right?"

Usagi waited for an answer, but Mamoru didn't say a word.

"And then we can go see Minako-chan and Ami-chan and Mako-chan...

but not Rei-chan, she was mean to me, not letting me have her little

chocolate cakes the other day. That sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?"

The car slowed down momentarily as they approached a red light and the

sped up again as the light turned green.

"And maybe then we can go see some of your friends, okay? You never

take me out to see them... I'd like to meet them, and I'm sure they'd like to

meet your mystery girlfriend too, now wouldn't they?" They turned a

corner.

"Ummm... maybe we could... go see a movie tonight?" she asked. The

silence was becoming oppressive. "Or... something?" His face didn't even

register her comment.

"Mamo-chan? Are you listening?"

"Of course I am, Usako. I'm... just thinking... about some things."

"Oh. Well, like what?"

"Nothing important," said Mamoru. "We're almost there."

"Hai..." said Usagi. She looked at her folded hands. "Yeah, right...

almost there."

Mamoru led her into the hospital, keeping her hands in his, never

losing physical contact with her. He talked to someone at a desk out in

front and then they went to an elevator. From there they went to the third

floor.

"Mamo-chan, I don't want to stay in the hospital. Can we go soon?"

"Soon, Usagi. Come on." He kept her hands in his and continued

walking. Soon, they were at a door marked as the morgue. "Usagi, you-

that is... I'm no good at this. Usagi, your parents and your brother... they're

dead. Do you understand?"

Usagi was silent for a moment, then her face brightened. "You're

playing a joke!" she said happily.

"No Usagi. I'm not. We're going to go in now and... tell the doctor who

they are. Then we're going to go back to my place, and we're going to try to

talk some more."

"Okay, Mamoru," said Usagi happily, not believing what Mamoru was

saying. She knew that it was a joke, and that she would probably find that

all of her friends were inside waiting for her... or maybe... maybe Mamoru

was trying to scare her! She happily took his hand as he opened the door

slowly. A doctor met them inside.

"Hello," he said with a sympathetic smile on. "Who are you here to

identify?"

"Ah..." Mamoru paused. "The Tsukino family. This young lady is the

daughter. She won't believe that they're dead, however so it's going to be a

shock when she discovers that I'm not playing a trick on her..."

The doctor nodded. "Alright. Come this way, Tsukino-san." He smiled

at Usagi and led her down the aisle to a section of drawers. "Turn around,

okay?" He smiled again. She turned around obediently and waited. He came

into her field of vision. "Now, Tsukino-san, you're going to see something

rather disturbing right now. I want you to just answer yes or no to the

questions I'm going to ask. They won't be hard or anything. They're just

questions as to who these people are, okay?"

"Okay," said Usagi happily. She was wondering if the people were

going to sit up, like they always did on Star Trek.

"Now," he said, taking her hand. "I want you to answer, yes or no, is

this your father?"

She turned around happily and gazed down at the face on the table. It

was definitely her father, and Usagi wondered how Mamoru had convinced

him to do this practical joke, but she decided that she wasn't going to

cooperate. "No, it's not him!" She smiled.

The doctor looked at her and Mamoru walked up to the table, coming

up silently beside her. "Usagi... is that your father?"

"No!" Mamoru took her hands.

"Usagi, please listen to me. It's not a joke. I'm not trying to trick

you. I love you, I'd never try to trick you like this. And I know who that is,

just like you do... Please Usagi, tell the truth."

"Okay," she said with a smile. "It's him." The doctor closed the

locker. "What, isn't he going to get up?" she asked, turning her head. The

doctor frowned, as did Mamoru.

"Alright, Tsukino-chan. Is this your mother?" He opened another

drawer and Usagi nodded mutely. What is he up to...? she wondered. "And

is this your brother, Tsukino Shingo?"

"Hai. Now when are they going to get up?"

"Usagi... they aren't getting up!" said Mamoru loudly. Usagi stared at

him, still not comprehending. "Usagi, they are dead! They aren't going to

just get up and walk away! They-"

The doctor raised a hand. "Let me talk to her for a bit. You just go

over there," said the doctor, motioning to a corner of the room.

Soon afterwards, Usagi was convinced again that her parents were

indeed dead. She walked out of the hospital with Mamoru.

"Oh, Mamo-chan... I wanted it to be a dream. Why couldn't it have been

a dream?" she asked softly through her reappearing tears. Mamoru just

sighed as they went into his car again and went back to his apartment. By

the time they'd done that, Mamoru realised that the other girls would be

out of school, and he knew that Usagi needed them.

"Usako, where's your communicator?"

"Right here," she said, fumbling through her pockets and finally

finding the little device that allowed her to talk with her friends. She put

it into his hands and sat down on the couch that had been moved, once

again, into the entrance room.

"Hello...?" asked Mamoru into the communicator.

"Mamoru-san?" asked Ami in a tinny sounding voice.

"Hai..."

"We were all wanting to come to see Usagi... she's with you, right?"

"Yeah. Usako... say something, will you?"

"Hi, Ami."

"So why don't all of you come over," said Mamoru. "In half an hour,

maybe?"

"Sure. How... I mean..." Ami sighed. "Never mind. We'll find out when

we come."

"Bye." Mamoru handed the communicator back to Usagi. He looked at

Usagi for a long while and then sat down beside her. "Would you like to

talk, Usako?" he asked hesitantly. Usagi shook her head.

"No, Mamo-chan. I'm okay."

"Alright. As long as you know..." Mamoru looked rather uncomfortable.

"I'm always here for you, Usagi. If you need someone to talk with... or

anything else... I'll be here for you." He smiled at her and kissed her

forehead.

"I know you're here for me. It means a lot to me," she whispered. "I

love you, Mamoru. I love you so much."

There was a knock at the door, and Mamoru got up to let the senshi

in. Rei came in first, a look of concern on her face. She came and sat down

beside Usagi without a word. The next person to enter was Ami. She put a

smile on her face very carefully, but it fell quickly when she saw that

Usagi wasn't smiling. Next came Makoto. Her eyes were very far away, as

though she was remembering something from a long time ago. Last to

enter was Minako who smiled at Usagi when she came in.

"So how are you doing, Usagi-chan?" asked Rei. "I brought some

prayer cards for you," she said, bringing out a few from her pocket. She

smiled at Usagi.

"We've been worried about you," said Ami. "I know you missed today

in school, so I'll help you if you need any help catching up or anything..."

"Maybe you'd like to go shopping or something? There's a new mall

that's opening a little bit away from here. It's going to be so cool, really it

is... Usagi, are you going to say anything?" asked Minako.

"Yeah, sorry. Thanks for the prayer cards, Rei-chan. And thank you

Ami, for offering to help me out. And you too, Minako-chan. It's just... I

guess I don't feel like talking today. I don't know. I-" Usagi fell silent.

"Usako... You... That is, it's better if you talk a little," said Mamoru.

"If she doesn't want to talk, don't make her talk," said Makoto, losing

the faraway look in her eyes. "Losing people you love doesn't really make

you want to talk much. I mean, would you want to talk about it? Probably

not. It just reminds you of things... Stuff you don't want to bring up. So

how about we talk about something else." There was silence for a while.

"Did you see the latest Sailor Moon anime they're doing, Usagi-chan?"

"They're doing another one?"

"Yes... Did you really think that they wouldn't?"

"Well..." Makoto and Usagi went on about the new anime for quite a

while before everyone else slowly began to join in. First it was Ami, who

talked a bit about the show in other countries. Later, Minako pointed out

that they were more popular than Sailor V was. Rei finally chimed in

herself, saying that she didn't think that the anime should be called Sailor

Moon, proffering instead the Sailor Team, seeing as how the team did all

the work on the show while Sailor Moon cried... just like in real life. And

at that, of course, Usagi began to cry and call Rei mean, and soon they

were sticking their tongues out at each other.

Mamoru watched with a smile on his face, because Usagi crying in

this way was all right. The tears of depression she had been crying earlier

were somehow wrong and foreign for a girl like Usagi. She should always

be happy, in his eyes. The girls left late that evening, and Usagi had a

smile on her face as they left, but after that, she lost it and tears began

to fall out of her eyes.

"I don't deserve any of you, Mamo-chan," she said softly. "You help

me all the time, and I can never really help you in the same way."

"Usagi, you help us all the time, too. Maybe you don't realize it, but

you help all of them, and you help me." Mamoru sat down on the couch

beside her. The green sofa sagged under their weight and Usagi put her

arms around Mamoru's neck. "See, you just helped me there." He smiled at

Usagi.

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked, sniffing.

"Well," he said and paused. Usagi smiled and pulled his arms around

her as he thought of a reason. "Well," he repeated, "you make me feel

happy by being with me. Is that enough of a reason?"

Usagi didn't say anything. She buried her face into Mamoru's chest

and fell asleep in his arms, leaving him to put her into bed.

Usagi woke the next morning from a night of phantom images and

frightening voices calling out to her. She saw, if for only an instant, an

image of the sun which blinded her. A rose had then appeared, bleached of

colour and its petals were torn away slowly, carried off by the wind. She

had seen an image of death itself before awakening and she promised

herself that she would forget about it as quickly as possible.

The sun shone directly into her eyes from the window and Usagi sat

up and blinked for a while to get the dazzle out of them. After doing that,

she looked around Mamoru's bedroom. Not seeing her Mamo-chan, she began

to look at the articles of clothing strewn haphazardly around the room.

She stood up and began to clean the room.

She was still doing so when Mamoru walked in. "Usako? Don't worry,

I'll do that," he said, patting her hand.

"Your room's not usually messy... So it must be because of me. I'll

clean it up for you and then I'll make us some breakfast."

"No," he said a little too quickly for Usagi's liking. "I'll make some

food for us. Do you think you can go to school today? It's monday, and...

we've already taken off a lot of school. If you don't think you can handle it,

then you can stay home, of course, but I've got exams coming up so I have

to go to school..."

"I... I can go today," she said slowly. "But I'm going to clean up this

room first. I can't have your rooms dirty because of me." Mamoru looked at

her for a moment and then sadly nodded. He left the room and soon Usagi

could smell the aroma of the food that Mamoru was preparing. She put the

rest of his clothing in the hamper beside his bed and then went to his

closet. Her school uniform hung inside from the many times that she had

slept over, telling her mother that she was studying to get out of the

house. She now wished she hadn't slept over so often.

Usagi dressed slowly then left the room. She went into Mamoru's

kitchenette. He was cutting up some mangos which must have been really

expensive in Usagi's opinion. He turned around and noticed Usagi after a

while, said hello and told her to eat some fruit.

"No. I can't eat it... It's very lovely, but I don't really eat breakfast. I

mean, if you're late for school as often as I am, you stop..."

"Well, you're going to start. Breakfast is an important meal. No

wonder your grades aren't very good if you..." Tears began to fall out of

Usagi's eyes. "I... I'm sorry, that wasn't nice. Usagi... come on... Darling,

please stop... Come on, sit down, Usako..." Mamoru got her to sit down with

little more prodding but her tears did not stop. "What's wrong? Come on,

they're not that bad... I­"

"They are so that bad!" Tears continued to trace their way down her

cheeks. "But it doesn't matter anyways," she said softly, "becuase I'll

still be queen of Tokyo. I­ it's not as though anyone will care that I had

lousy grades in high school. No one except..." She looked away. "I don't

even know who to get that paper stamped by now. My parents were

supposed to but..."

"Usagi, your grades don't matter. Don't worry about them for now,

alright? And I'll put my name on that paper for you. You can tell your

teacher that I'm who you're living with right now, so that'll be okay.

Hmm? Come on, Usa. Let's see a smile on your face. Right? There." He

smiled at her and gradually she began to smile back. "Alright, now where's

that paper?"

"It's in my bag. I'll go and get it." She got off of the chair and went

into Mamoru's hallway to get her test paper. She didn't look at it as she

took it out. She knew she didn't want to look at it. When she handed it to

Mamoru, her arm was extended as far as it could be. He took the sheet and

she turned away, unwilling to look at him as he saw her paper.

He took a deep breath and she knew that he was dissappointed with

her. He quickly put his name on the sheet and folded it. Mamoru then gave

the sheet back to Usagi. "We'll study harder next time."

"We?" asked Usagi, confused.

"We. The next time you have a test, we will study for it. Together,

okay?"

"Hai..." she said, stifling her tears. She felt them rising and she put

the test into her pocket.

"Shh! No crying, I told you that already. No crying now, promise?

You're going to eat something. Here." He handed her a piece of fruit which

she ate quickly. "Now, let's go to school, right? Right. Take some more

fruit and we'll go. I'll walk you to school today? Good."

She ate another piece of fruit and then he took her hand and they

were off. School was only a few blocks away from Mamoru's apartment

and he brought her right up to the door of the big square building.

"You still feel like you can do this today, Usagi?"

"Hai." Mamoru kissed her forehead.

"Okay then. You do well today, promise?" He smiled at her and she

had no choice but to do the same. He waved to her as he left the school

grounds.

She entered the school with no little trepidation. The faces that she

saw were all friendly, the same faces she'd seen all the time while she

had been in high school, but somehow there was something different in the

expressions of all of her classmates. It puzzled her greatly until she

realised what it was: pity.

Pity didn't puzzle her, but it did make her feel a little angry. They

had no right to pity her. Perhaps before this had happened she would have

pitied someone too, but not anymore. Now she realised that all she had left

was her pride, and pity tried to take even that away from her. Pity was

simply a way that all of the other students could feel self-righteous. They

pretended that they were sorry for her when all they were truly doing was

thanking whatever for the fact that they still had their parents.

The teachers had it in their eyes too, but Usagi decided not to take

the pity anymore. She put it into the back of her mind and ignored the

'understanding' glances of the students. She knew that they didn't

understand and might never understand what was happening to her right

now.

She walked into her first class to the empathetic glances of her

classmates and spent most of the rest of the day moodily walking from

class to class. She didn't learn much. She went into her math class just as

angrily and noted that this was yet another teacher who had automatically

assumed an "I'm-so-sorry" face upon her arrival.

"Tsukino Usagi," called the teacher at roll call.

"Hai."

"Bring up your paper."

"Hai, sensei." She disinterestedly brought up her sheet.

"Now who's this? I can't read this."

"Chiba Mamoru."

"Who is Chiba Mamoru?" she asked.

"He's­" Usagi paused for a minute. She had put up with one too many

sympathetic looks today and she was tired of it. She said her next words

without thinking. "He's Tuxedo Kamen and I'm Sailor Moon and my parents

died in the Silver Millenium so you people can stop looking at me like

that!"

The entire class stared at her. "What?" asked the teacher mildly.

"I­ I­" Usagi blushed and rushed out of the room.

"Why did you say that?" she asked herself pushing back yet more

threatening tears. She walked out of the school building and sat by the

side of the school so that she could listen to her math class without being

seen.

"Now what set her off like that?" asked the teacher, puzzled.

"Oh, didn't you hear? Her parents were killed two days ago," said a

student.

"Poor girl. Maybe she shouldn't have come in today. Okay, let's get to

the lesson."

Usagi could feel her cheeks burning. The teacher hadn't even known.

The teacher couldn't have been looking at her any differently if she hadn't

known. She listened to the lesson half- heartedly and almost fell asleep as

the teacher reviewed sine, cosine and tangeant graphs.

The class was dismissed soon afterwards and Usagi started to walk

away after taking down the homework she could see through the window.

She stopped before she got to the doors and waited as all of the students

left the building. She saw all of her friends leaving and wondering about

Usagi's day at school. They were asking each other where she was, and

Usagi was tempted to go out to them but decided that her cheeks were

still too hot for that. She tried to cool her blush by pressing her cheeks to

the wall, hoping that cold brick would stop the excess flow of hot blood to

her face. It didn't work.

After the last of the students and teachers had apparantly left,

Usagi went to sit on the steps in front of the school. It was begginning to

get cold now that night was coming. She shivered a little and then leaned

against the building to wait for Mamoru.

It was late when he finally came. Usagi was glad to see him and

threw her arms around his neck as he popped into view. He smiled at her

and pointed at the sunset.

"Look, Usa. Pretty isn't it? Not half as beautiful as you though." He

smiled and looked into her eyes. Seeing happiness, he continued. "So how

was your day at school?"

"It was pretty good." Usagi's eyes went down to the ground.

"That's it? Oh. So what happened?"

"What do you mean 'What happened'? What do you think happened? It

was a normal day at school, and we had lots and lots of fun and we had a

very interesting math class and-"

"An interesting math class? I've never heard you refer to math as

'interesting' before now." Usagi put her head on Mamoru's chest and didn't

say anything. "Ah well, I guess it doesn't matter, does it, my beloved

Usagi? No, it doesn't." He kissed her on the top of her head and began to

lead her away from the school.

"Mamo-chan?"

"Yes?"

"I... I didn't hand my paper in to the teacher. Or... well, I did kinda..."

"What do you mean, Usako?"

"Well, I handed it in, and she asked me who you were..."

"And?"

"And I- I ran out of the classroom."

Mamoru looked at her, angrily it seemed. "I knew you should have

taken one more day off. Why'd you run out?"

"She- I- I don't know. I just... I don't know. I guess I thought that

she was looking at me like- like I-"

"Like you had lost your parents?"

"Yeah. I- I don't know. I just couldn't take sensei looking at me like

that. It was just so- She didn't even know, either."

"It's okay." It wasn't okay; if there was anything Usagi was sure of,

it was that. "I talked to your lawyers today, and they've just told me that

your parents left everything to you. It was supposed to go to you and to

Shingo, but..." He shook his head. "It's going to cost a lot to pay the taxes

on it, but that's okay."

"I did something else that was terrible today."

"Don't worry about it," Mamoru said smiling.

"It was really horrible. I can't believe I did it."

"I said don't worry." Mamoru lost his smile.

"I told them- the class that is- that I was Sailor Moon and that you

were Tuxedo Kamen and that my parents were in the Silver Millenium and

long dead."

"You did what?" Mamoru stopped dead in his tracks and asked her

again, very conversationally. "You did what?"

"I told them who we were and who my parents were." Mamoru began

breathing heavily. "I d-don't know why. I just did. It just came out. In math

class."

"When was this math class?" he asked harshly, grabbing her wrist

tightly.

"I- I don't know, it was 1:00, I think... Mamo-chan, you're hurting

me!" He continued to tighten his hold on her wrist. "Mamoru!" Tears began

to well in Usagi's eyes.

He let go of her hand quickly. "I'm sorry Usa." There was no feeling

in his cold voice, and Usagi's anger at him for hurting her quickly turned to

fear.

"Ma- Mamo-chan?"

"At about 2:30, I was attacked by something. As Mamoru, not as

Tuxedo Kamen. Come on, we're going to go somewhere where I hope we'll

be safe," he said softly, and began walking, not once glancing behind to

see if Usagi was following or not.

"Mamoru? I'm sorry, I didn't know that something would happen. I

didn't think about that. I was just- I just said the first thing that came

into my mind..."

"I know." Usagi was almost running to keep up with Mamoru, and yet

he was increasing his speed. The pavement was rushing by like a river

under them. Usagi was getting a stitch in her side by walking this fast.

"Mamo-chan, please wait. Don't go so fast, I can't keep up!" Usagi's

pleas apparantly fell upon deaf ears. "Mamoru!"

Suddenly, Mamoru stopped. It was so abrupt that Usagi was unable to

stop in time to keep herself from hitting him, and so she banged into him

hard and fell on the pavement. She began to cry.

Mamoru turned around and smiled as the tears rolled off of her face.

"I think this is deserted enough," he said softly.

"Wh- what?" Mamoru grabbed Usagi's arms and put them in back of

her. He somehow had some rope which he used to tie them with before he

stuffed her mouth with cotton balls and put a sweet smelling piece of

cloth against her face.

She awoke next with a head that felt as though it had been made of

some terrible, vile liquid that hurt terribly. Moving felt like agony, and it

felt as though she was rolling around in that same burning liquid.

She opened her eyes slowly to see light that wanted to blind her, but

as she opened her eyes the room slowly swam into focus. It was fairly

dark, but as her eyes hurt with even the light that came from the room,

Usagi was glad for that mercy. There were paintings on the wall- or were

they photographs- of her. The walls were made of concrete... no call for

help would be heard through them, even if Usagi's mouth hadn't been still

stuffed with cotton balls. Some of the pictures of Usagi had red on them,

and the bedclothes looked brownish in the dim lighting. The light was

coming from a candle at the other side of the rather small room and it was

upon a table made with beautiful red silk.

Usagi noticed that she was no longer dressed in her school uniform,

but rather in something of deathly white. There was no colour to it; its

pallor was frightening. It was not the beautiful white-pearl of a wedding

dress, nor was it an antiseptic white-green of a hospital, but a pure white

that almost burned the eyes. It was made of a coarse fabric and it itched

when Usagi moved, not that she did move much when her efforts brought

only more pain.

Suddenly the candle was moving towards her. Behind it was a

demonic Mamoru who stared at her with a smile on his face, noting her

discomfort. He put the candle down on a small table beside the bed that

Usagi lay on. "I notice that you are now awake. Good." He picked up a knife

from the table. "I like it better that way."

"Mamo-chan?" laughed Usagi nervously. Or rather, she would have,

but because of the cotton stuffing her mouth, she said something more

along the lines of "aoan."

"Let's take that off, shall we?" Mamoru pulled her head up violently

and cut the strap from around her mouth. "Let's try that again."

Usagi spit the cotton out with some difficulty. "Mamo-chan...?" She

blinked. "What are we doing here?"

"Hm. Well, that depends. Do you mean 'what are you doing here?' or

'what am I doing here?' or something else entirely?"

"Well, what am I doing here, I guess..."

"Ah. What are you doing here. Well, I could put it kindly, but I think

that I would rather be blunt. You are dying here." He smiled at her

widening eyes. "What am I doing here, I'm sure you'd like to know. I am

showing you what you never really saw in me. What I've done to every girl

before, what I will do to every girl after you. What no girl wants to see,

even if the signs are clear." Mamoru pulled her face up into the light of his

candle, causing her to wince away. "I am killing you." He laughed at her as

she struggled briefly. "Let's make it a bit more fun." He turned her over

completely, and then cut the bonds which kept her arms from moving.

"You... Mamoru-san? Mamo-chan? What's wrong with you? Why are

you...?" He laughed at her again and Usagi stood and moved away from him.

"Do you think you can escape me? I killed your family, I can kill you

just as easily. Usako," he said contemptuously, turning what had been an

endearment into a frightening word. "I know every part of you. Your fears,

your hopes, all the places where you might try to hide... I know you.

There's nothing you can do about it now. Usa-kodemo."

"I- I-" Usagi backed away further. She moved backwards to where

the door was and quickly turned the handle.

"It's locked anyways!" Mamoru laughed. Usagi opened the door and

flew out of it. "What?" Mamoru shouted like someone denied something

that he most definitely wanted.

Usagi continued to fly out of the building, noticing nothing of it as

she left and almost charging straight into Tuxedo Kamen's arms. "Usako?

Where've you been?" he asked. Usagi stared into his face and suddenly

turned the other way, screaming as loud as she could. Usagi could hear the

sounds, not only of Mamoru's triumphant laughter, but also of people

coming outside wondering what the fuss was. Usagi hoped that someone

thought to call the police.

Usagi ran faster and faster, not knowing or caring where she was

going, until suddenly she tripped. She realised that she was still

screaming as she stopped to cry and then noticed where she was.

Rei's temple was up the steps a little, and she heard the sound of

four girls coming out to investigate the huge noise. "Usagi? Where've you

been? We called Mamoru's hours ago!" called Minako. The girls went down

the stairs.

"There's evil..." said Rei softly as she touched Usagi's hand. "Where

did you get this dress from, Usagi?" All Usagi did in response was to cry

louder and harder. How could she tell them about what Mamoru had done?

How could she ever tell them that her trusted lover from another time was

a- a killer with- with no remorse and- and- "Let's get her inside," said

Rei. "There's something wrong here."

There was something wrong? Oh Rei, you don't know what an

understatment that was. How could Mamoru have done this to her? Her

Endymion? Her Tuxedo Kamen? The one she had loved through all eternity

was this man who had- had-

The girls brought her up to the shrine and brought her inside the

room they used for studying. "Usagi?" Minako asked softly. "What's

happened?"

"Mamoru. He-" Usagi shook her head. "I don't understand it. I don't

know why he did that to me. I just... I don't know..."

"Usako?" Tuxedo Kamen landed just outside the room. "Usako,

what's-"

"No!" cried Usagi, searching for a way out. "Please, no, don't touch

me, please! Leave me alone, I'll never bother you, just don't kill me!"

"Kill you? What are you talking about? It's late. I think you should

come home. A nice rest should cheer you up." Mamoru smiled at her.

"Please, leave me alone! I-" Usagi turned to the four guardians.

"Please, get him to go away! He'll kill me... I don't want to die yet..."

"Usagi, what are you talking about?" asked Mamoru plaintively.

"She says get away, so get away, Mamoru." Rei stood between

Mamoru and Usagi. "I don't know what's going on here, but she's obviously

frightened of you right now. Go away, Mamoru. She'll stay here tonight."

"But- Usagi?"

"Mamoru, you know Rei's right." Makoto stood beside Rei. "Leave for

now. I'm sure that your quarrel seems important right now, but she'll cool

down and you'll both be on speaking terms again, but only if you leave

right now."

"What quarrel? Usako, what's going on?"

"Mamoru." Ami stood beside the other two. "We won't lose if you

decide to fight over this. You know that we won't. Just go home for now.

We can all talk later over a cup of tea somewhere, okay?"

"I don't want to talk later over a cup of tea, Ami, I want Usagi to

come home."

"Mamoru, if you love her, you'll go." Minako stood up. "She doesn't

want to see you right now. If you ever want to see her again, you'll have to

leave now."

"Minako, surely you must know what she's thinking. Please, tell me

what it is? Usagi, if it's about me coming late to pick you up, I'm sorry.

Just tell me what you were doing there? That's not exactly a good section

of town. I don't want you there, you could get killed!"

"You brought me there, Mamoru. Please leave me alone. Please don't

kill me. I don't know why you're doing this, but I don't want to die. Please

leave me alone. Please don't kill me. Just leave me alone, please..."

"Usagi..." Usagi couldn't bear to see Mamoru's face. If she did, she

might forget what he just did. Then she'd go with him, and he'd kill her.

"Please Usagi, I don't know what you're talking about. Please come home."

"No, leave me alone, you can't hurt me here..."

"Usagi..." He sighed. "Alright. I'll go. I- I'll be at home. Please come

back soon," he said softly as he left. Usagi could feel the tears creeping

down her face as she uncurled herself from the feotal position she'd

unconsiously gone into.

"How can I go home? I don't have a home anymore..."

"Usagi, what happened? Did he do something to you?" Usagi was very

confused and couldn't tell with any surety as to where and who the voices

were coming from. "You'll always have a home, Usagi. He couldn't have

done anything that bad... could he?"

"Oh, minna-chan... I- I don't understand him anymore. I thought he

loved me..."

"He does, Usagi-chan... Why do you say he doesn't?"

"He said he killed them. My family, dead, and he said he killed them.

He said he did the same thing to every girl he'd ever h- had... He was

probably... oh, Endymion was... I..."

"Mamoru said he killed them?" asked the voices. They were so

soothing. Usagi nodded her head. "Why would he say that? I don't get it. If

he wanted to hurt her, anyone could have told him that saying that was not

the way to do it. Not if he still wanted to keep her." "Maybe he didn't want

to." "Minako, if he didn't want her, why would he have come like that? He

wouldn't do that, I'm certain of it." "No, if he didn't want her, he'd never

have come. Even if he really wanted to hurt her, he wouldn't have stayed

for so long. He really was trying to get her to come back." "Usagi-chan,

why do you say he wanted to kill you?"

"He- he tied my hands up and he stuffed my mouth with- with

cotton balls and then he made me go unconscious and then- then he must

have dressed me in this and I- Oh, I don't want to wear this thing

anymore- Then he cut the bonds and said that he was going to kill me and

that there was no way to get out because the door was locked. But it

wasn't really locked, and I got out, and then he came chasing after me as

Tuxedo Kamen. I- I don't know why..."

"This doesn't sound like him." "No, but I'm sure Usagi's telling the

truth." "The thing is, what's the real truth? Mamoru seems to know

nothing of this, and Usagi's crying like he's tried to kill her. Yet- think

about it. If Mamoru truly wanted to kill someone, I'm sure he's not stupid

enough to leave the door unlocked." "No, that is puzzling. Rei, I think we

should put Usagi in bed and I also think that we should stay with her for a

while. If she gets a bad dream from this and we're not there, I don't know

what she'll do..." "You're right. Ami-chan, Mako-chan, could you two go

into the guest room and get the futon? We'll put it in my room and I'll

sleep lightly enough that I'll know if she gets up. Or if anything else

happens." "Right."

"Usagi...? We're going to go to my room now," said Rei softly into

her ear.

"Yes, it's time to go to sleep for you, Usagi. You've had a bad day, I

can see." Minako pulled at Usagi's arm until Usagi stood. "Come on."

"Let's go, Usagi." Rei held Usagi's other arm and began pulling her

towards her room. They got there just a little bit after Ami and Makoto

had finished dragging the futon into Rei's room. Rei and Minako put Usagi

gently down upon it.

As Usagi slowly drifted towards sleep, she listened to what the

girls were saying again.

"There must be some way to find out if Mamoru is telling the truth.

Ami, does your computer have any sort of a lie-detection mechanism?"

"Lie detectors are highly inaccurate. People have been known to lie

while the lie detector has said they were telling the truth. If Mamoru

really threatened Usagi, I'm sure that he'd be able to fool the machine."

"Well, is there anything we can use?"

"Maybe Luna or Artemis would know something..."

"Yeah, but... come on, Makoto, have you seen them recently? I know

that Artemis hasn't be spotted around my house for... Well, days! I think

that my parents think he's dead... he's not, but... well, no one's seen him."

"If Luna's not around either... Hm. Well."

"Ami! Anyhow... I seem to remember something that we did, only

once, back in the other life. It's not very clear, but I think it was with

someone that the queen thought was a traitor. It turned out that he was,

but..."

"Yes, Ami's computer didn't work on him! But our... what was it...?

Our thing worked anyhow."

"We should go to him then, find out if he really does know something

about this."

"Yeah, but what about Usagi? I don't think she wants us to bring her

to his apartment. She was so terrified..."

"Bring her along. If we know he's done it, we can protect her, if we

know he hasn't, then I'm sure that we can convince her that it wasn't

him."

"I think that's best. We'll have to be transformed for this, right?

Okay then. Mercury Eternal Power... make up!"

"I don't think we should bring her along. Wait until tomorrow."

"Rei-chan, if we do it tonight, he won't have time to think of this

thing himself and simply hide the knowledge. It's the only way. It really is.

Jupiter Eternal Power... make up!"

"I suppose. Poor Usagi. Should we wake her up? No? Okay. Mars

Eternal Power... make up!"

"Venus Eternal Power... make up! Come on. I'll carry her for the first

quarter of the trip, Mars does the second, Mercury the third and Jupiter the

last. Let's go."

Usagi felt herself being picked up just as she fell completely asleep.

She woke again slightly as she was put on a couch in Mamoru's

bedroom. She opened her eyes slightly in fear and did not close them for

even an instant.

"Mamoru." Minako's voice was quiet in his apartment.

"Uh...? Who's that?"

"It's us."

"What are you doing here? Has- has she decided to come back?"

Mamoru asked hopefully.

"No," said Rei. "We want to find out if you are telling the truth."

"Go ahead. However you can, if it will help Usagi come back to me. Do

anything you want. I can't bear this. I can't understand it, either. I don't

even know what I've done."

"She's said some things to us. Like that you threatened her." Ami's

voice was clear and cold.

"What? Why would I threaten her? She's... everything. It doesn't even

make sense that I would do that to her."

"She said that you told her that you killed her family."

Mamoru was taken aback. "What?" He was silent.

"Why would she say that, do you think?

"I have no idea. Maybe she had some sort of hallucination? Or maybe

she... I don't know."

"You picked her up after school?" Ami was being very buisinesslike

and brusque.

"No. I was really late, as her lawyers called. When I got to the

school, she wasn't there. I came home, but she wasn't here either. So I

transformed into Tuxedo Kamen hoping to find her."

"And where did you see her next?"

"I sort of felt for where she was. I had gotten to a pretty bad part of

town when she suddenly ran out of a building. She bumped into me, so I

asked her what she was doing. And she ran away. Screaming. Then I didn't

see her until you saw me."

"Why did you chase her if she was running screaming away from

you?"

"Well I- What, you think that I thought she was screaming about me

being there? I thought there was something wrong. I had to know what it

was. Maybe I didn't really sant to know. Why would she think I did these

things to her...?"

"What things?"

"Threatening her and saying I killed her family."

"I don't know," said Rei. "But she believes what she's saying, and

you believe what you're saying. There's something very wrong here."

"I'll say." Minako walked over to Usagi. "Usagi-chan? Wake up, okay?

Mamoru didn't do anything to you. Can you believe me?"

"How do you know?" asked Usagi softly.

"We were scanning his brain as he was saying it, Usagi."

"But if he didn't, then who did? His evil twin?"

"Usako?" Usagi looked at him and knew that her heart was melting.

He knelt next to her with tears shining in his eyes and some on his cheeks.

"Please, beloved." He took her hand into his own. "Please, understand. I

would never do any of this to you."

"I-" She turned her face away, hoping that she would be able to sort

out the confusing feelings if she could not see his face.

"Please, believe me. Please, Usagi." A tear fell off of his face and

burned itself on her hand. "I couldn't bear to see hurt come to you. Please,

Usako, believe me. Please, Usagi, I- I love you."

"I-" Usagi was having difficulty breathing. If it hadn't been Mamoru,

then who was it? Who could have done that to her? Who would have even

known enough to say her name, let alone look like her beloved prince- her

Mamo-chan. "I-" She turned around. "I love you too," she said finally,

relenting to the tears on his face.

He kissed her. "Don't ever do that again to me!" he said into her ears

he hugged her. "Please don't ever do that again." He reached under the

couch seat and took something out quickly. He wiped the tears off of his

face and then wiped the tears off of hers. "Usagi," he said hesitantly.

"Will you marry me?" He opened the tiny box in his hands to show a

perfect, beautiful ring.

The ring was golden with a beautiful moonstone encircled by green

garnets and blue diamonds. "I-" Usagi was overwhelmed. "You didn't have

to get so expensive a ring to make me say yes..."

"I just didn't want it to be too much eclipsed by your beauty. Please

say yes..."

"Of course I'll marry you. It's my dream." Mamoru slid the ring onto

Usagi's finger.

"So much has happened," whispered one of the girls; Usagi didn't

notice who exactly had said it because she was so happy. But yet...

something was still wrong. A voice...

"Too much," it said in her mind. Usagi looked around to see if anyone

else had heard it, or if she could identify the source of the words, but

apparantly there was no one to make the sound and no one but Usagi was

hearing it.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, beloved..." said the voice.

"Who're you?"

"Usagi, who are you talking to?" asked Mamoru.

"I said who are you!" called out Usagi to the open air.

"Dull questions. You never think of the right ones to ask, do you,

Usako?"

"I know you..."

"You will not experience happiness. You are mine." Laughter filled

her mind and Usagi collapsed inwards upon herself.

"Usako! Wake up! Come on! Please, Usa, wake up, it's not time to

sleep..."

"Mamo-chan?" asked Usagi, confused. She remembered the laughter,

but who owned it? The hated tones she could not forget haunted her in her

sleep, but whose were they? "Who was that?"

"Who? Usagi? Are you all right?"

"Y-yes. Oh Mamo-chan. I guess I was just so happy about us getting

married."

"It'll be soon," Mamoru said earnestly, happy to see that Usagi was

awake. "Promise."

"I-" Usagi looked down at the dress that covered her. She didn't like

it. "I want to change, please, Mamo-chan."

"All right." Mamoru left. And Usagi was left with some questions.

Who was that man, and what had he wanted? Who put her, bound and

gagged, into this horrible dress?

Usagi removed the clothing quickly and put on one of Mamoru's

shirts. She discovered that the senshi had left while she had gone under,

trusting that Mamoru would call them if there was anything more that

happened.

She walked into the living room where Mamoru waited for his

fiancee. "Mamoru?" Usagi smiled. It didn't really matter, those questions.

As long as she had Mamoru, as long as he stood beside her, there was hope.

As long as he was true to her, she would never fear. Everything would be

well.

"Mamo-chan?"

"Usako..." Mamoru went to her and brought her into his arms. Usagi

smiled at him and put her head on his shoulder. "You beautiful little rabbit.

Would you like to do anything today? It's almost day time now."

"All I want to do is stay with you."

And so the fifth day came and went, and all was silence.

Pie Iesu. Quitolis pecata mundi, donna eis requiem. Sempi ternam.

Requiem.

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